Chapter 651 New Skill [3]
At fifteen meters, the stag's head lifted sharply, its ears twitching and its eyes sweeping the surrounding area.
Moon froze in his place, staring at the beast as it stood still for a long moment, then relaxed and lowered its head again.
Moon sighed internally, controlling his breathing. He had almost thought he had been caught.
Fifteen meters was the current detection threshold for a Three-Star beast with enhanced perception. That was significantly better than his original stealth had produced. Without Camouflage, the same stag would have detected him from at least fourty meters away.
He wasn't fully hiding behind trees or boulders either. He was standing partially in the open, blending with the surrounding terrain through the visual suppression rather than actual physical cover.
'Impressive.'
His proficiency continued to climb as he observed the stag's reactions and refined his blend against the terrain.
The visual suppression tightened further as he learned to change his coloration in real time based on his current backdrop. His mana signature dropped further as he learned to dampen the leakage patterns that beast perception was most sensitive to.
His proficiency hit sixty. Then seventy-five. Then ninety.
Moon continued to test the limits of his skill before adjusting. The stag was a perfect training target for him, and killing it just yet was a great loss.
He walked closer to the stag deliberately. At ten meters, the stag lifted its head again. At eight meters, it began to look uneasy, but still couldn't feel him enough.
At five meters, it snorted and began to move away, but it still hadn't fully identified him. It only knew that something was wrong.
Moon smiled and let the stag leave.
He didn't kill it. He was testing the skill, not hunting.
He continued exploring the region, pushing his Camouflage against progressively more perceptive beasts.
Every encounter refined his skill further as his proficiency climbed the final stretch.
[Camouflage]
[Rank: Rare]
[Level: 10]
[Details: Mask the user's sensory footprint from external detection. Suppresses scent, sound, mana signature, and visual presence. The user does not become invisible, but their perceived presence drops to a level where normal detection methods will fail to identify them. Effectiveness scales with power differential and distance. +100% suppression efficiency.]
Maxed.
Moon exhaled slowly.
Five hours of focused work. He had brought a Rare-tier skill from zero to full proficiency through repetition, analysis, and progressive testing against harder targets.
He owned the skill now.
'Time to evolve it.'
The skill was too useful to leave at level ten without pushing it to its evolved form. Camouflage would define his approach to most future engagements, and every increment of improvement compounded across countless situations. He had plenty of Lives to burn through after everything that had happened.
He committed to the evolution.
[level 10 → 11] [32 lives]
[level 11 → 12] [64 lives]
[level 12 → 13] [128 lives]
...
[level 17 → 18] [4,096 lives]
[level 18 → 19] [8,192 lives]
[level 19 → 20] [16,384 lives]
[Total Consumption: 32,736 Lives]
The Life cost drained from his pool and the knowledge of the refined technique poured into his mind, layering onto the foundation he had built over the past five hours of practice.
...
[Camouflage]
[Rank: Rare]
[Level: MAX]
[Details: Mask the user's sensory footprint from external detection..... +200% suppression efficiency.
Suppression efficiency against a target gradually increases while the user remains nearby and undetected, up to +50%. The bonus resets once the target clearly notices the user.]
Moon stared at the new skill effect with stars in his eyes.
The upgrades were significant. Base suppression efficiency doubled from one hundred percent to two hundred. That alone would push his effective detection threshold, and would let him approach to within a few meters if the power differential wasn't too extreme.
But the secondary effect was the icing on the cake.
The gradual buildup mechanic meant that the longer he stayed near a target without being noticed, the harder he became to detect. Up to fifty percent additional suppression on top of the base two hundred percent.
Moon exhaled slowly.
He was going to have a lot of fun with this skill.
Satisfied with the evolution, he glanced back at the two other skills the Assassin class had provided.
Dagger Strike II. Dagger Mastery II.
He had originally dismissed both as redundant to Weaponmaster. His existing skill covered every combat function they offered, at a significantly higher tier. Copying them would produce no meaningful benefit.
Or so he had believed.
He paused.
'Let me actually test that theory. Just to be sure.'
He had always assumed that redundant skills wouldn't provide him with anything worthwhile. He had believed that assumption for months, dismissing dozens of potential copies because their functionality overlapped with skills he already possessed at higher tiers. But he had never actually verified the assumption through direct testing. He had simply accepted it as obvious.
Obvious assumptions were often the ones that hid opportunities.
This time, he wanted to see the theory through completely.
He set Dagger Mastery aside for now. It was too broad to test quickly. Dagger Strike was more focused. If any of the redundant skills were going to reveal something interesting, the more specific one was the better candidate.
He summoned a dagger from his storage ring.
The blade was a standard piece from his miscellaneous collection. Slim. Balanced. Nothing special. It fit into his hand in a comfortable grip.
He began to practice.
His body flowed like a serpent in the wild.
The proficiency counter began climbing quickly.
Within thirty minutes, he had reached fifty percent.
Weaponmaster's underlying foundation was accelerating the learning curve significantly. The specific principles that Dagger Strike required had all been present in his existing kit. He wasn't learning the skill from scratch. He was refining an already-established competency into a specialized form.
He continued through the practice.
Within another hour, he reached maximum proficiency.
[Dagger Strike II] [Rank: Uncommon] [Level: MAX] [Details: A focused dagger thrust that deals 300% Damage on impact.]
Moon lowered the dagger.
He waited.
He waited longer.
He held his awareness open for any notification or unexpected reveal that the redundant skill might have offered beyond its listed function but nothing came.
The skill was exactly what it appeared to be. A focused dagger thrust with a damage multiplier, at a tier significantly below what Weaponmaster provided for the same weapon type. His original assumption had been correct.
So I was right the first time.
Now he knew for certain that redundant skills genuinely provided nothing meaningful beyond their listed effects. He could continue dismissing them in the future with full confidence.
He stored the dagger back in his ring.
"Time to head back."